Coming to Terms
by electricowl
Summary: Tonraq struggles with his daughter's coming out. One-shot. Image by cheppoly on Deviantart.


Tonraq sighed heavily. He really wasn't sure if he would be able to do this.

Senna walked over to him with a small smile on her lips. She patted his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek before telling him, "You'll come around. It'll be fine, you'll see."

He could never understand how she was always so sure of these things. But she was rarely wrong.

As she walked away she said, "Oh, and dinner will be ready in ten minutes, everyone will expect you there on time!"

He nodded and continued looking out the window while Senna left to finish preparations for the family gathering.

He remembered the first time he considered that his daughter would one day be a woman, an adult, who would get married and start her own family. Shortly after discovering she was the avatar, she had taken to showing off her firebending whenever she had a chance. That kind of bending was rarely seen at the South Pole, so naturally all of the children her age and even plenty older would gather around her and watch her perform little tricks, some basic firebending moves.

Tonraq and Senna had smiled at their young daughter as they watched her interact with the other children. One little boy, about five years old, came up to Korra, and, falling to his knees, declared his undying love for her. She laughed and shot a fireball into the air as a response.

It had really made Tonraq think. His daughter, although very young, was already a powerful bender and was the Avatar. Her duty would dictate nearly her entire life, but she was still a woman. And with her mother's traits, she was going to be a beautiful woman. One day a man really would come along and declare his undying love for her. Hopefully he would be from the Tribe and would carve her a beautiful betrothal necklace of her own, but with the United Republic of Nations and the duties of the Avatar to the world, he would not be surprised if she met someone outside of the tribe.

When he discussed this with Senna, she laughed and shook her head at him.

"She's only four! You can't seriously be thinking about her future that far down the line!"

But he was her father, and he cherished her. He would always be thinking about her future, every and any aspect of it, no matter how near or far.

When she brought her boyfriend, Mako, to the Glacier Spirits Festival, he could tell that they both deeply cared about each other. Mako wanted to protect her and he respected that. Despite old prejudices, Tonraq did not mind that his daughter was dating a firebender, as long as he was a good person. And while police work could be exhausting and dangerous, he was sure an officer of the law would make a fine husband someday. He started thinking about doting on his future grandchildren.

All of this was why he was completely blindsided when Korra had come to speak to him and Senna alone a few nights ago. She had confessed that for a while she had been…"confused", but she wasn't anymore. She told them that she liked boys and girls, which Tonraq didn't even know was possible (isn't it just one or the other?), and that led to her explaining that she had a girlfriend.

A girlfriend!

Tonraq had sat there silently while Korra explained all of the tribulations she had been through with Asami by her side, and how their friendship had moved on to something more. They cared deeply about each other.

Tonraq thought he was having a bad dream.

Senna hugged her daughter and told her that of course she would accept her and Asami no matter what. As long as they loved each other, she would never question their relationship.

Korra turned to him. "Dad? Do you have any questions? Anything you wanna say?"

Tonraq looked down, avoiding her eyes. "I need time to soak all of this in."

Korra visibly looked hurt, but she nodded, hugged Senna again, and they all made plans for a family dinner later in the week.

Tonraq moved away from the window, the scent of food wafting into his study. It was now or never.

Dinner started off as a little tense, with just the four of them at the table. Asami told Senna that she loved her cooking, and they had a polite conversation about city food versus Southern food.

Korra kept giving him nervous glances while the other two spoke. He hated making his daughter feel this way, but it was all so…strange. Unnatural.

He knew that there were gay men out there, and gay women too, but he supposed he had never even met a gay couple. At least that he was aware of. How did those relationships work, anyway? He doubted they were like normal people. And how did they even…

He started coughing, bringing himself out of some thoughts he didn't want to have.

Halfway through the evening, after most of the dinner had been eaten and Senna was getting dessert, he saw it. For just a second, he saw what Korra was talking about.

Asami had made a joke about one of their friends, the mover star, and his ability to swallow an entire arctic hen, and Korra had thought it was incredibly amusing. She laughed loudly, and she met Asami's gaze. They both had a twinkling look in their eyes, a warmth about them. They were smiling at each other, and for a moment, it was like it was just the two of them at the table, lost in their own joke, in their own little world.

"Here you go, honey," Senna said as she put his plate of dessert down in front of him. The girls broke eye contact to happily take their plates as well. They were still pretty giggly.

Senna caught his eye and smiled at him. He managed to smile back.

It seemed like his mind was just unbelievably slow at registering the obvious.

Korra and Asami loved each other, the way he imagined Korra and a man would love each other. And it didn't really matter that Asami wasn't a man, because she was Asami. She had cared for his daughter when she couldn't walk, and she protected her during the fiercest of battles. And from the way she looked at Korra, he knew how much she loved her. And Korra obviously felt the same way, or she wouldn't have so nervously explained the nature of their relationship. She felt the need to define it for them, to make it clear, they were not just friends. Not anymore.

Tonraq smiled as Korra took a bit of dessert and _booped_ Asami's nose, leaving a little dot of chocolate there. Asami grew a little flushed as Korra and Senna laughed good-naturedly. Asami reached for Korra's hand under the table, but Tonraq could see it.

He cleared his throat for attention, and immediately everyone fell silent. Asami quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped the chocolate from her face.

"Alright, I have something I'd like to say," he stated, while all three women looked at him. Senna gave him an encouraging smile while Korra looked like she was about to start sweating bullets and Asami appeared to have stopped breathing.

"Now, I know I haven't been the most accepting recently…and I'll admit that I was confused and worried when Korra told me about your relationship," he said, looking at Asami. "I didn't understand how she could like you the way she liked a boy. It didn't make sense to me." He sighed, shaking his head to himself.

"I've been stupid, and I'd like to apologize." Asami finally took a breath and Korra looked like she was thanking some spirits to herself.

"I can see now how great of a team you two are, and more than that, you two really care about each other. I can respect that."

Korra jumped up from her seat and gave him a huge hug around the neck. "Thank you so much," she whispered. "I love you, dad."

"I love you too, sweetie," he said softly.

"Thank you, sir," Asami said, beaming.

"Now, that doesn't mean you're off the hook yet," he responded as Korra took her seat. She had an amused look at Asami's discomfort.

"Oh…?"

"I hope you know that you hold my whole world in your arms when you hold my daughter. You'd better not break her heart," he told her sternly.

"Oh, don't worry about that, sir," Asami responded politely. She looked at Korra. "I hold my whole world in my arms when I hold your daughter, too."

Korra grew red in the face at her sappy declaration. Tonraq chuckled and Senna let out a loud, "Awwwww!" and drew Asami in for a hug.

Tonraq waggled his finger at Asami and gave her a firm look. She gave him a determined look back, ready for what he had to say next.

"And you'd better make an honest woman out of her."

The night went on with lots of laughter and love, and while Korra groaned and when her baby pictures came out, Tonraq knew she was having a great time. Asami fit right in with them, because she fit right in with his daughter.

Tonraq smiled to himself. As long as Korra was happy, he was happy. He'd worry about grandchildren later.


End file.
